A friend asked about the significance of her positive Covid tests. She had suggestive symptoms and an antibody test was positive. What did this mean? False negatives may occur if you test too soon, before antibodies have developed or the test might have been faulty. Counterintuitively, the significance to her of a positive test depends […]
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Successful Are Those Who Adapt; Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Pain Fellowship Training During COVID-19 Pandemic in a Developing Country
Aliya Ahmed, Robyna Irshad Khan, Shemila Abbasi, Ali Sarfraz Siddiqui, Azhar Rehman, Ausaf Khan, Tanveer Baig, Gauhar Afshan Department of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Corresponding Author Aliya AhmedDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, P.O. Box 3500, Stadium Road, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.Email: aliya.ahmed@aku.edu COVID-19 pandemic caught the entire world blindsided causing dramatic changes to […]
POETIC INSIGHTS INTO PERPETUAL CHANGE
Most doctors who continue to work on the shop floor of medicine, those who deal with individual patients, often remark on the uncertainty engendered by the continual change of management techniques and structures imposed on them from on high. I was about to wax eloquent in similar vein when I reflected on some lines from […]
Essential tips for front line workers during COVID (Dr D Ong)
On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. In the United Kingdom (UK), radical changes have been implemented within the National Health Service (NHS) affecting the way hospitals are run on a day-to-day basis. The effects of these changes are uncertain and may compound […]
Cardiovascular PACES an examiner’s perspective
Some candidates examine the patients in a chaotic fashion and often continue with discussion along similar lines and thus often fail themselves. Other candidates may examine in a superficially competent manner with an obvious sense of purpose but appearances can be deceptive. During the following discussion (candidates are not supposed to talk to examiners during […]
Postgraduate teaching and COVID
Innovative methods of remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemicJA Gilmour, J Holman, A Hindocha, A Donald, R Curnock, H Manning, D Pask, L Turnbull, R Ranganna. In March 2020, Coronovirus hit the UK and caused huge changes to the NHS. Aside from the clinical challenges; educational and training opportunities were cancelled which significantly impacted on […]
Transparent Face Mask for those hard of hearing who depend on Lip Reading
With the introduction of mandatory face masks following the COVID19 pandemic and Safe distancing in most of the places of work, it is a huge challenge for those who are hard of hearing and depend on lip-reading. Working in the NHS, I know more than a couple of people whose life has been affected and […]
Impact of COVID-19: a surgical trainee perspective
Impact of COVID-19: a surgical trainee perspective The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges worldwide. The status quo has particularly been offset for those in the remit of healthcare training and surgical trainees are no exception. As for any other healthcare professional, the risks of COVID-19 are real. Donning and doffing off multiple sets […]
Monsoon, Vitamin-D, COVID-19: Implications for India
COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused 11,903 deaths in India as of 17 June 20201. Epidemiological evidence shows that transmission and peaks of infectious diseases are associated with the timing and severity of monsoon, generally peaking towards the end of the monsoon period2,3. Observational studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency might be a risk […]
Could postgraduate medical education look different after Covid-19?
The Covid-19 pandemic led to rapid changes in the way things are done throughout the NHS and delivery of postgraduate education is no exception. Almost overnight we moved from predominantly lecture-based teaching to online platforms such as Zoom. In the face of a global pandemic where clinicians have appropriately prioritised frontline clinical care, there was […]